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Whether we are cleaners, postal and delivery workers, medical dispatchers or in other important roles, CUPW members have been on the front lines performing vital services to the public during the COVID-19 crisis. The National Executive Board has authorized the purchase of non-medical masks for each of our members. CUPW Locals will be receiving shipments of the masks over the coming weeks; however, distribution will take some time given the large volume of the order.

Are you grappling with how we are going to have to change our society, workplaces, and systems going forward post-pandemic? The Global Labour University is offering a free course, online, on your own time, to think about ways to implement pro-human, pro-planetary change. No previous formal education is required, however you will need a working knowledge of English.

In the coming weeks, members will receive the long-awaited new issue of Perspective, and should immediately notice that it looks a little different. For one, we’ve retired our old tabloid and relaunched as a magazine. More importantly, your Perspective is now much more than the Trustee’s report. It is now filled with articles and information about CUPW’s major campaigns, issues, committees, and so much more.

When COVID-19 abates, there will be a great struggle over what policies and ideas take centre-stage. The public is certainly grateful to frontline workers right now – whether they are cleaners, couriers, medical dispatchers, postal workers, health care workers, or others on the frontlines. We must leverage this support to demand policies from governments that will actually help our society and working people.

**Montreal, St-Jerome and Ste-Therese Locals** Quebec summer day camps will open as of June 22 across the province, Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced on Thursday May 21, 2020. Camp groups will be smaller in size, and have smaller counsellor-to-child ratios, with physical distancing directives in place. We know this information is coming late, but want you to be able to register your school age child for this summer program.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and to all the members of the committee for giving us the opportunity to present the point of view of our members in these extraordinary and worrisome times. I first want to acknowledge that I am speaking to you from unceded Anishinabe territory.

Only one year ago, we had just finished our national convention and I wrote that I would follow through with “my commitment to build a united union, to fight the attacks on all our members and to mobilize the membership” for the future. How could we have ever predicted that our members would play such a crucial and historically unprecedented role in our communities? During this pandemic, we are doing what we do best.

On May 17th, we join over 130 other countries worldwide in celebrating the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. We must remember and acknowledge the continued systemic injustice faced by the LGBTQ community. The theme for this year is Breaking the Silence. It was chosen as a reminder that for most of their lives, LGTBQ people have been made to feel ashamed, stigmatized and have had to hide their sexualities, gender identities or sex characteristics.

Red Flags in Calgary - Last Friday in Calgary, the public health authority declared an outbreak at the mail processing plant. Six cases since April 20 have been confirmed so far. Canada Post Corporation and Alberta Public Health say they don't believe that the virus was spread in the workplace, and they maintain it is not necessary for asymptomatic members to be tested before returning to work. But as you know, this is not just a question of whether members are safe and healthy, it's a question of how we ensure it.

Support Postal Banking - Download and Sign the Petition

Canada needs a postal bank. Thousands of rural towns and villages in our country do not have a bank, but many of them have a post office that could provide financial services. As well, nearly two million Canadians desperately need an alternative to payday lenders. A postal bank could be that alternative. Download and sign the petition urging the Government of Canada to instruct Canada Post to add postal banking, with a mandate for financial inclusion.